Frost Bank pitches 30-Day Optimism Challenge

Can 30 days of positive action affect how people see the world and even improve their financial situations? Frost Bank is launching an initiative based on the premise that optimism can be learned and that it will help people better meet financial challenges.

The 30-Day Optimism Challenge starts Monday. Participants can sign up online to receive a daily challenge in their email inboxes. The idea is to perform the challenge or another small, positive act that day. At the end of 30 days, according to research, participants could experience better physical, emotional and financial well-being.

Bill Day, vice president of corporate communication for Frost Bank, said the challenge is open to anyone -- not just Frost customers.

“This isn’t just about Frost accounts or Frost products,” he said, “It’s bigger than that.”

Day said that Frost has seen studies showing that people are stressed out about their finances and life in general, and that people who have a more positive attitude about their finances tend to be less worried and get better financial results, regardless of the size of their nest egg.

Day said that people who are stressed about finances also tend to be stressed about approaching potential solutions, so they end up feeling stuck and losing hope. He added that according to one survey, more than half of Americans do not have as much as $400 saved up for an emergency — and commonplace problems like car repairs or household repairs could easily cost that much. Knowing that such emergencies can crop up can lead to feelings of worry and hopelessness.

“The better relationship you have with finance … the less you’re going to be stressed about that kind of stuff,” Day said.

Optimism isn’t an inherent trait for everyone, Day said, but research has shown that it can be learned. That’s what the 30-day challenge hopes to achieve.

He also said that Frost doesn’t define optimism as unconditionally positive thinking, but as “a very realistic approach to the challenges and hurdles that life presents with the mindset that these can be overcome.”

That kind of attitude, Day said, can help people take action to improve their financial situations and lead to better outcomes.

The 30-day challenge is something that has been in the works for a while, Day said. It grew out of Frost’s “Opt for Optimism” campaign that the bank rolled out on social media last month.

“We’re getting a really good response from it,” Day said, noting that more than 5,000 people have signed up for the 30-day challenge.

For more information or to sign up for the challenge, visit www.opt4optimism.com/optimism/challenge.